


Modern Love

by Malmo722



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Car Accidents, F/M, First Dates, Hollywood, Miscarriage, Party, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 09:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11734437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malmo722/pseuds/Malmo722
Summary: Rising movie star Jughead Jones takes seasoned pop star Betty Cooper on a date unlike any other.





	Modern Love

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my take on the romantic date night cause I can’t do anything like a normal person. 
> 
> I edited this myself so there are probably errors.

Betty Cooper had been famous for most of her life. When she auditioned for _X-Factor_ as a fourteen year old, she was put together with three other girls to create the next big girl group, Aurora. 

They came in third place on the show but became one of the biggest girl groups since the Spice Girls. Four years and three albums later Betty was ready to move out on her own as a solo artist and was met with astounding success. Not only was Betty a talented singer but a gifted songwriter as well.

Her first solo album went on to win 4 Grammys and sky rocketed her into super stardom.

It was around this time she met the much older Academy Award winning actor, Archie Andrews. Their courtship was a whirlwind and four months later the couple was married.

It was a rocky marriage at best that lasted a little over two and a half years. Unknown to Betty when they wed, Archie was a heavy drug user and this made him erratic, unsupportive, unreliable and, at times, violent.

The marriage ended after Archie had gotten them into a serious car crash. Betty had broken her arm, both of her legs and had technically died for two minutes. Neither Archie nor the former Mrs. Andrews ever spoke about the accident and Betty filled for divorce the moment she recovered.

Betty was twenty-two, divorced and had just released her sophomore album. It was an album about Archie and it showed. Beautiful heartbreaking songs about love, loss, mistakes and an eyebrow raising track called “Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth” got people talking.

She refused to confirm if it was a song about her former husband but there were already plenty rumours about Archie Andrews alleged drug use. Archie had a great PR team but people and the tabloids could speculate but it was never harmful enough to ruin his career.

Betty assumed she would never fall in love again. She couldn’t date like regular people, she couldn’t do anything without it being looked over with a fine toothed comb. Archie had messed her up too badly and she knew she would never be who she was before she met him.

And then Jughead Jones came out of nowhere.

He was listed as one of the actors to watch in 2017. The year before he had been in six movies working with Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Lawrence, Damien Chazelle, Anton Yelchin, Jeff Bridges and Mike Nichols. He had worked on the reboot of _Twin Peaks_ and had four more films coming out in 2017, including a role in the newest _Star Wars_ movie.

He had been working on a film with David Fincher in Los Angeles when he met Betty. She was a friend of actress Veronica Lodge who was currently working on the movie as well. They had all been invited to a party Charlize Theron was throwing.

He met her on the terrace after he snuck out to have a cigarette he wasn’t supposed to be having. Veronica was trying to ween him off the cancer sticks, as she called them.

“You’re not supposed to be doing that.” Betty chided coming out of the shadows. Her soft blonde hair whipping around her face.

Jughead jumped and clutched his chest in surprise. “Fuck!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you but those things will kill you and if they don’t, Veronica certainly will. She’s been telling me all about her mission to make you smoke free.” Betty joked taking a step towards him.

“Can it be our little secret? I’m still not used to all this Hollywood stuff and the cigarettes calm me.” He admitted.

She smiled and nodded her head. “Sure.”

“You want one?” He offered her the pack.

“No thanks, it’s not good for my voice.” She informed touching her throat.

Jughead moved his head in understanding and put the pack in his pocket. “I love the new album by the way.”

Betty felt her cheeks flush, still not able to understand why anyone would praise her. “Thanks. It turned out really well but it was hell to make.”

“Yeah, I heard about all that stuff. I’m sorry.” He took a drag of the cigarette looking out to the city.

She shrugged, ripping up a leaf she had pulled off a plant. “I made a bad choice, we all make them.”

He stood up straight and stuck out his hand. “I’m Jughead Jones, by the way.”

Betty laughed. “I know.”

“You do?” He asked shocked.

“Well, yeah, Veronica pointed you out almost the second we got in here and I’ve seen your movies.” She smirked when his eyes went wide.

“You have?” He said still shocked.

“Yeah, there isn’t a lot to on a tour bus so I’ve seen _La La Land_ and _X-Men_ and _Green Room,_ you’re good.” She tucked her hair behind her ear.

Jughead blushed. “And how did you meet Veronica?”

“I did a song for the _Hunger Games_ movie she was in and we met her at the promo party. I found her in a bathroom, drunk and throwing up. I held back her hair and cleaned her up. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“What a strange thing to bond over.” Jughead remarked.

“Jug?” Veronica’s voice rang out. “Bets?”

Jughead started panicking, not knowing what to do with the cigarette. Betty giggled as she watched him struggle before taking the cigarette from his hand and throwing it over the side of the building.

They both turned to watch Veronica, the statuesque brunette, step out onto the terrace. “Good! You met, sorry I didn’t introduce the two of you sooner but these parties are so exhausting.” She stopped in front of the pair. “Were you smoking?” She asked, eyeing Jughead.

He shook his head. “It must be from one of the buildings around us or something or maybe a raccoon carried a cigarette up here-”

Betty cut him off. “There was someone out here smoking. They went in just before you came out.”

Veronica’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s go inside. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender showed up and they are singing karaoke.” She clapped rapidly before turning on her heels and skipping back into the apartment.

Betty glanced at him with a grin. “You know, for someone who lies for a living, you’re a terrible liar.” She moved towards the inside and motioned her head in the same direction. “Come on, if we are doing karaoke then this is my time to shine.”

The two of them found themselves gravitating towards each other all night. Jughead couldn’t take his eyes off her when she sang a rendition of ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ with Michael Fassbender.

He immediately understood why she was the only one to be successful when the girls broke free from Aurora. She had that thing, that star quality that would make her incredibly famous even if she wasn’t talented. Your eye was instantly drawn to her.

The night came to a close but before her and Veronica left Jughead caught up with them.

“Hey Betty, do you think I could give you a call some time?” He asked feeling stupid for doing it in front of Veronica who began to smirk. “Or a text or email or call your agent? I don’t know, I’ve never asked out a famous person before.”

Betty laughed and shot a quick look to Veronica who gave her an encouraging nod. “Give me your phone.” She instructed.

He handed her the device and she punched in her number. “That is my personal number, please protect it.” She handed it back to him. “Please use it though.”

“I will, I promise.” He smiled at her.

Betty tucked her hair behind ears and laughed. “I’ll see you around then.” She gave him a small wave, got into the elevator and disappeared with Veronica.

He did call her and they went on a handful of dates, usually at her place and one at his. They had attempted a dinner out but the paparazzi and constant interruptions from fans made it impossible.

They had managed to go on an outing to a secret lake in a field two hours outside of Los Angeles. No one had followed them and it was the first time they were alone in a place that wasn’t one of their homes.

“You know that I’ve never been on a real date before. I guess this would come closest.” Betty said as she sunned topless while Jughead looked over the scattered tattoos on her body.

“What do you mean?” Jughead asked looking up at her.

“I mean every date I’ve ever been on has been overrun by paparazzi or every other person is asking me for an autograph.” She sighed. “I’ve never had that, ’Where did you grow up?’, ‘What’s your family like?’ kind of dinner date. I’ve never really felt normal but I guess that’s the price for everything I have.”

“A real date isn’t much different, I can assure you. I can understand the want to have something you’ve never had.” His finger ran across the underside of her breast. “What is this? What do these names mean?” He asked tracing the names Natalie and William.

Betty shifted uncomfortably. “The second I tell you, you’ll look at me differently.” She admitted.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to tell me.” He said taking a sip of his beer, looking at the tranquil surroundings around them.

They were silent for sometime before Betty spoke. “I was two months pregnant when Archie got us into that car crash. I had no idea, my period had always been fucked up so I thought the light spotting was normal.” She swallowed hard. “He was on heroin that night, I didn’t know that either. I thought he was drunk and he had become so belligerent I just wanted to leave.” She was silent again for so long he thought the story was over until she started again. “They said I barely looked like a person when they pulled me out of the wreckage, they couldn’t believe I was alive. When I came too and found out that I had lost the baby, I wish I _had_ died. I was even more furious that Archie walked away unscathed.” She sat up and took a sip of her drink. “There were some dark nights I thought about killing him.” She confessed and looked down at him. “I didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl but this is what I would have named them either way.” 

“That’s what the song is about? The Junkie one? It’s about Archie.”

Betty nodded. “‘Red Red Red’ is about the babies.”

Jughead nodded and thought about a certain lyric from the song.

_What's happened has happened/What’s coming is already on its way/With a role for me to play/I don't understand/I’ll never understand/But I'll try to understand/There’s nothing else I can do_

“I’m so sorry Betty.” He said.

“So am I.” She shook her head. “He was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made and I’ll never forgive myself for making it.”

Jughead sat up and brushed the hair from her face. “Bets, you have to, okay? You have to try. I’ll help you if you want.”

She smiled and nodded, leaning in to kiss him. “Thank you for being so wonderful.” She remarked.

“It’s easy when I’m with you.” He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her again, pushing her down into the grass.

They made love for the first time that afternoon.

Jughead knew he wanted to do something special for her because he was falling in love with her. She had been through so much in her short life and it killed him to watch her deal with the pain.

He wanted to give her something no other person could give her.

“Can you be ready for 8?” He asked her on the phone as he paced his trailer.

“I can, is there anything you want me to wear?” She teased in a playful way.

“If I said I have a thing for little black dresses, would you be repulsed?” Jughead joked.

“Many fashion critics have said that a little black dress is what I look best in.” She giggled. “Let me know when you are getting here and I’ll buzz you in.”

“Sounds great!” Jughead was trying to hide his excitement as he signed off on a release for the nights upcoming festivities. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

“I’m counting on it.” She hung up and Jughead head smiled.

He looked at the grey three piece that hung in the closet. He looked good in grey, grey was the right color. She would like him in grey.

* * *

 

Betty had too many little black dresses, they had accumulated over the years. Ones she had bought and ones that had been given to her for photoshoots, red carpets and when she was performing on stage. She settled on a tight, strapless satin dress that cut off just above the knee. She put her hair up in a high teased ponytail and slipped on some strappy gold high heels. She kept her makeup minimal.

Her doorbell rang around six. Betty was confused because she hadn’t agreed to let Jughead in yet and he was far too early for the date. She strode to her front door to be greeted by Gus, the man who guarded her community, holding a large bouquet of red roses in a vase.

“Oh my god, come in Gus!” She waved him in, making room on the table sitting in the middle of her grand foyer. “Where did these come from?”

“A messenger dropped them off, there is a card.” Gus said placing them down.

She opened the card and couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. 

_You’re smiling aren’t you? You better be smiling. I’ll see you soon. - Jughead xoxo_

Betty bit her lip as a blush crept into her cheeks. She was falling hard for this boy and it terrified her. The last time she fell for someone she almost lost her life but she loved the smile on her face and the fire in her cheeks and knew she needed to take that chance.

“Thank you, Gus.” Betty cooed.

“Never a problem, Miss Cooper.” Gus gave a slight nod and went out the way he came in.

Betty had gotten dressed far too early and found herself sitting around watching crappy reality TV with a nervous excitement running through her. She didn’t think her foot could bounce anymore when her house phone rang.

“Hello, Miss Cooper, a Jughead Jones is here.” Gus said knowing full well who Jughead was.

“Yep, let him in.” She instructed putting down her phone and running to the mirror to make sure she still looked good.

She took a deep breath in. This felt different from any other date they had ever been on. Betty felt like everything would be different when she kissed him goodbye that night.

The doorbell rang and she forced herself to walk at a normal pace to answer it. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face when she saw him. He was wearing a pristinely tailored, grey three piece suit and his dark hair was brushed back.

“Hi.” She sighed leaning against the door, forgetting all her manners.

“Hi.” He softly said back, taking a step towards her, his arm wrapping around her waist pulling her flush against him. His lips met hers, the kiss was delicate but filled with all the expectation of the coming night. “You look incredible.”

Betty blushed. “Thank you.” She kissed him again as she ran her hands up and down his arms. “What are we doing tonight?” She asked.

“It’s a surprise.” He grinned wickedly.

“Do we have time for a drink?” She asked.

Jughead shook his head. “We have reservations for 8:30 and we have to be on time for them.”

Betty pouted before smiling at him. “Fine, let me grab my clutch.” She turned to collect her small black satin bag that was sitting beside the roses. “Thank you for those by the way.” She said as she locked up. “I love roses, they are so beautiful.”

“I’m glad you liked them.” Jughead placed his hand on her lower back and steered her towards the car. He opened the door to his black Mercedes and helped Betty inside. Jughead handed her a blindfold once he was in the car.

“What is this?” Betty asked with skeptical eyes.

“I need you to put it on. I want where we are going to be a surprise and it can’t be a surprise if you see where we’re going.” He explained placing the blindfold in her hand. “I promise it’ll be worth it.”

She stared at him for a moment and then half smiled. “Okay.” She put it on and settled back into the seat as the car took off.

“Are you ready for the crazy amount of paparazzi that are going to be wherever we are going. You know they are following us. They sit outside my house constantly.” She informed.

“I’m ready for it.” He assured linking his fingers with hers.

They were silent as they drove to their destination, Betty trying to count turns, trying to figure out where they were headed. The car stopped and Jughead got out.

“Jug? Jug?” She said almost taking off the blindfold before he jumped back in.

“Sorry about that, just a few more minutes, promise.” The car started moving again.

She felt a wave of excitement flow through her. “Can I take off the blindfold?” She asked when the car finally stopped again.

“Yes.” Jughead said getting out of the vehicle.

Betty blinked a few times after taking off the mask letting her eyes adjust to where they were. They were parked on a quiet street. There were shops, apartments and restaurants lining the block as people went about their lives. There was no paparazzi, no star fuckers, nothing Betty was accustomed to. “This place looks weird.”

She stepped out of the car when Jughead held the door open for her and directed her to a small Italian restaurant called, Alle Testiere, a few doors down from where they parked. “Where are we? Are we still in the city?” She asked.

“Kinda.” He smiled as they entered the building.

There were a few couples in front of them and they waited their turn to speak to the hostess. Betty couldn’t remember the last time she had to wait for anything.

“Hi there,” the dark haired hostess beamed. “For two?”

“Yeah, there is a reservation under Jones for 8:30.” He looked over the podium to look at the log.

“Ah, yes, we are just getting your table ready right now, please take a seat.” She motioned over to a bench by the door.

Jughead and Betty sat down and she looked around at the other people waiting to be seated. They carried on conversations with each other seemingly ignoring the movie and pop star in front of them.

“Is your car actually a Tardis that sent us to a parallel timeline where we aren’t famous?” Betty asked looking over at him.

He laughed, unbuttoning his suit jacket. “No, my car is not a Tardis.”

“It’s a Delorean and we have gone back in time to the 90’s?” She inquired.

“Why are you so obsessed with time travel?” He questioned.

“Why aren’t any of these people looking at me? At us?”

He shrugged. “Maybe you aren’t as famous you think you are.”

“Jones!” The hostess called.

Jughead stood and held his hand out to her. “Come on.”

She followed him to a small table for two surrounded by couples who didn’t seem to care they were there.

“You like Italian food, right?” Jughead asked as he began looking over the wine menu.

“Yeah, I love Italian.” Betty said looking around. No one was secretly pointing their phones at her or whispering to each other. “Seriously though, where are we?”

“Hello, my name is Andrew and I will be you server for tonight.” A tall blonde man smiled down at them.

Jughead looked at her. “Do you mind if I order wine for the table?”

She shook her head reaching for her phone, trying to figure out where she was but was distracted when Jughead started speaking.

“We’ll have the 2013 Switchback.” Jughead said with a smile as he handed the waiter the wine list.

“Excellent choice, sir, I’ll be right back.”

Betty looked over it him. “Jug.” She said calmly, her hands pressing flat against the leather menu.

“Bets.” He said looking over his food options.

“What is this place?”

He put the menu down and smiled at her. “Do you remember our date at the lake and you told me you had never been on a real date before?”

Betty nodded slowly.

“This is your first real date.” He lifted his arms, showcasing his work off.

“I don’t understand.” She admitted.

“I called in every favour I was owed and most actors in L.A. will do anything for a free meal and 50 bucks. Fincher being Fincher demanded to have a whole city block built and wanted to do tracking shots into this restaurant so…” He trailed off.

“This is a backlot?” She asked starting to understand what he had done for her.

He nodded.

“And all these people are actors?”

“Who have all signed non-disclosures, have no phones and, for just tonight, have no idea who you are.”

A wave of emotion hit her and she let out a mix of a sob and a laugh. “Oh my god, Jug.” Tears filled her eyes as she covered her agape mouth.

“Everyone should go one at least one real date.” He smiled warmly at her.

“I cannot believe you did this.” She laughed as a few tears streaked her face. “How much did this cost? How long were you planning this?” She asked wanting to jump across the table and hug him with no intention of ever letting go.

“That’s not for you to worry about.” He smiled. She could see the love in his eyes and she felt like she was about to burst.

That was the moment she fell in love with him.

“Sir.” The waiter showed him the bottle of wine and Jughead nodded. The server began to uncork the wine. “Are we here for a special occasion?” He asked.

“It’s our first real date.” Jughead told him before sniffing, tasting and nodding that the wine was okay.

“Oh, well that is lovely.” He smiled at Betty who was drying her eyes, still overwhelmed by what was happening. “The specials tonight are Chicken Carbonara and Seafood Bolognese. I would recommended both.” He smiled.

“Can we have one of each? We’ll share.” Betty laughed.

“Coming right up.” The waiter left.

“How are they cooking the meals?” Betty asked as she took a sip of the amazing wine.

“You don’t need to worry about that either.” He leaned back in his chair. “So, where did you grow up?”

She laughed. He was making sure she had a true date experience. “I grew up in a small town called Riverdale. It’s not very interesting. You don’t want to go there.”

“You didn’t have a happy childhood?” He asked.

She shrugged. “It was fine, it’s justa small town and it’s boring and I was forced into a lot of excitement at a very young age and I’m not sure I could live there anymore.”

“I grew up in a small town in Canada. Innisfil, Ontario, it’s not far from Toronto.”

“You’re Canadian?” Betty exclaimed. “I didn’t know that! Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It never came up but I never much cared for where I grew up either. I felt like I had bigger ideas than a small town would allow.” He took a sip of his wine. “That’s probably why I left.”

“I can relate to that.” Betty laughed. “My mom took me to LA when I was ten. I was in so many commercials before I tried out for _X-Factor_.”

“What was it like being famous that young?”

“I think I thought I was an adult when I wasn’t. I didn’t really get to be a kid, I basically had to sexualize myself the second I was put into Aurora. I grew up fast and it was probably the reason I thought I was ready to get married when I was eighteen.”

“Would you have done anything differently, in retrospect?” Jughead asked knowing the answer.

Betty took a sip of her wine. “Other than that horrible night, no. Being in Aurora was amazing and I love what I do. Marrying Archie was a mistake I needed to make to get myself to this very moment.” She smiled warmly. “This is a pretty exceptional moment.”

“Do you have any siblings?” Jughead asked.

Betty nodded. “An older brother and sister.”

“Really?” Jughead leaned forward. “Do you get along?” He asked.

Betty started talking about her family and every aspect of her life she could think of. Jughead did the same as dinner came and went along with dessert. No one bothered them, they received no knowing looks, not a single phone was ever pointed at them just as he had promised.

For the first time in a long time, Betty felt normal.

Jughead paid the bill and they lazily walked back to the car without a single paparazzo shoving a camera in their face or asking her if she was still in love with Archie.

Betty looked out the window, her fingers laced with Jughead’s as they left the lot and drove home. She couldn’t remember a time she felt so content, like everything was going to be fine.

Jughead parked the car in front of her home and walked her to the door, which she unlocked and stepped inside. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you properly for this night.”

“I’m hoping there will be plenty of moments for you to try.” Jughead whispered pulling Betty in for a kiss. This was more intense than the first one they shared that night. He didn’t care if he was going to mess up her make up or wreck her hair, he needed to be as close to her as possible.

“I’m in love with you.” Betty said first, panting when they parted.

Jughead looked at her, his eyes moving over her face wanting to remember her flushed cheeks and swollen lips. “I love you too.” He kissed her again as she pulled him into her home and he closed the door behind him.

Jughead stayed the night and every night after that.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated.


End file.
